Why Dog Grooming is a Profession

There is a reason that people are employed to groom dogs, and I'm about to tell you why.

Here's our cute, sweet, adorable little dog Maggie at the height of her cuteness:
Doesn't she look so cute an fluffy that you just want to hug her? Yeah, well the cute fluffiness comes at a price. It has to be constantly combed to reduce tangling, and she is a woodchip magnet when she goes outside.

A few days ago, my hubby had the bright idea of giving her a quick haircut. My parents had given us pet clippers from a while back, and we thought it would be quick if we used the clippers with cutting guides. Well it turned out that Maggie's hair is very deceiving, and wouldn't cut very easily. Plus she squirms a lot and won't hold still when you try to cut her hair. She thinks you're playing a game.

Thirty minutes and a few frustrated sighs later, we gave up, and poor Maggie looked like a total hackjob.
We didn't even try trimming her head. Her body was so uneven!

You can imagine our utter embarrassment when we brought Hackjob Maggie into the Grooming Department at Petco with our tails between our legs. The groomer was really nice though. She laughed at our horrible grooming job because Maggie looked so silly, and reassured us that she had seen way worse, like people hurting their dogs in grooming accidents. We told the groomer to do whatever she could.

She called us an hour later and told us Maggie was done, and commented that Maggie's a "real bullet." We found out later that they had to take a few breaks because Maggie was so squirmy.

The groomer did a great job, but it is so funny how skinny Maggie's body is now. She's like an owl... under all that plumage is a little itty bitty dog. Her face looks better though. Neater. We bought Maggie a few shirts to keep her warm at night, and she doesn't seem to mind.



We're getting used to how she looks, and we've learned our lesson. With Maggie, grooming is not a luxury, it's a necessity for keeping her happy and clean, and reducing the number of woodchips on our carpet. $30 every 4-5 months is totally worth it! I totally understand now why there are "professional" groomers out there!!

Something tells me we're not going to hear the end of this for a long time...